Observations

The new year brings new opportunities, if we can look around and look up. For new opportunities to have a chance, we must evaluate our current routines and habits—both personally and professionally.

Habits can be easy to establish and hard to break. Some habits are just automatic such as brushing your teeth, putting your seatbelt on, tying your shoes and constantly looking at your smartphone. 

Humanity loves routine but that makes getting stuck in a rut too easy as well. Some routines are comforting by helping bring order to your day. Some routines can be disruptive or distracting. Taking your attention and energy off target. Growing leaders are always checking to see if their habits serve their purpose and goals. 

Habits are made up of three components: a trigger, a behavior, and a reward. 

A trigger you often don’t control. The behavior is a reaction to the trigger. The reward is what motivates to keep going or to make changes. 

Our neural pathways can be trained and retrained. A few reasons why humanity loves routines and habits whether good or bad.

Comfort/Ease 

Gratification

Impassionate 

In order to become the best version of you that God created you to be, it seems we will need to be self aware of our own habits and our tendencies, and be on guard to stand up inside ourselves and fight the “same ol same ol” mindset. 

Here are ideas to help you get out of a rut, dare to try something new, and see what happens.

Start with a small change. For example get up 30 minutes earlier to read, meditate, or do some yoga. 

Allow yourself to be “bad” at something that is new. Don’t quit. See it through. 

Find and then spend quality time with like-minded people.

Take on a DIY project or take a class to expand your brain and accomplish something that improves you.

Here’s my leadership maxim for you. Don’t wait until you get stuck to make needed changes. Dare yourself to push onward and upward. The sky’s the limit to what you can change and improve. 

The new year brings new opportunities, if we can look around and look up. For new opportunities to have a chance, we must evaluate our current routines and habits—both personally and professionally.

Habits can be easy to establish and hard to break. Some habits are just automatic such as brushing your teeth, putting your seatbelt on, tying your shoes and constantly looking at your smartphone. 

Humanity loves routine but that makes getting stuck in a rut too easy as well. Some routines are comforting by helping bring order to your day. Some routines can be disruptive or distracting. Taking your attention and energy off target. Growing leaders are always checking to see if their habits serve their purpose and goals. 

Habits are made up of three components: a trigger, a behavior, and a reward. 

A trigger you often don’t control. The behavior is a reaction to the trigger. The reward is what motivates to keep going or to make changes. 

Our neural pathways can be trained and retrained. A few reasons why humanity loves routines and habits whether good or bad.

Comfort/Ease 

Gratification

Impassionate 

In order to become the best version of you that God created you to be, it seems we will need to be self aware of our own habits and our tendencies, and be on guard to stand up inside ourselves and fight the “same ol same ol” mindset. 

Here are ideas to help you get out of a rut, dare to try something new, and see what happens.

Start with a small change. For example get up 30 minutes earlier to read, meditate, or do some yoga. 

Allow yourself to be “bad” at something that is new. Don’t quit. See it through. 

Find and then spend quality time with like-minded people.

Take on a DIY project or take a class to expand your brain and accomplish something that improves you.

Here’s my leadership maxim for you. Don’t wait until you get stuck to make needed changes. Dare yourself to push onward and upward. The sky’s the limit to what you can change and improve. 

Often we set resolutions around physical health. For sure that is a top priority. The focus of this blog is your mental and emotional health. This focus relates to leaders, business owners, entrepreneurs, and employees (basically everyone). Mental health is not obvious. It is often the quiet measure of how well a person is doing, adjusting, excelling, and managing life. 

Recently I ran into a business client and noticed they had lost weight. So I said something (ahem: I opened my mouth and firmly inserted my Cole Haan shoe!). It turns out that they lost weight because of a health problem. 

Oops! They didn’t intend to lose weight that way, and I certainly didn’t intend to hurt them with an insensitive comment. 

Take that a step further. When someone is struggling with their mental health (depression, anxiety, loss of a loved one, insecurity in an area of their, dealing with a toxic relationship, etc.), it is very hard for even a close friend to detect. 

For all of us, keeping a pulse on our mental and emotional wellbeing will actually assist in our physical health too. They are interrelated and definitely influence each other. 

A business friend of mine was working out diligently, getting all buff. His job was starting to get very busy and requiring more travel. As a result, he started to get overwhelmed between the ears. 

He quit working out. Started enjoying a beer or two or seven, then cocktails as he was trying to get through the work-life stress. He decided to go “clean” on food and beverages. This helped him get his mojo back and both his mental and physical health mutually improved. 

As we lead and work, serve and sell, keep focusing on what clears out our mind of unnecessary triggers. Make sure you are setting boundaries and going after life unhindered. 

A healthier you translates into a healthier work and personal life. This year can be your healthiest year yet if you remain committed to your health—aspect of it. You can look forward to physically, emotional, mental, spiritual, and even financial health. 

As the new year begins, we all have the opportunity to assess who we are, what we are doing and how to continue or change.

One habit to make the new year great is FOCUS. There are so many distractions and yet we only 24 hours in a day.

So you have to focus on yourself—don’t be fooled by FOMO (fear of missing out). 

Focus on your goals, not on what others are doing. 

Focus on getting great things done, not just on completing the easy assignments.  

It’s way too easy to get off track, waste time, and lose sight of what’s important to you. So let me give you two pieces of advice for the new year:

Be aggressive against the attacks of distraction that won’t get you where you wish to be. 

Go on the offensive and attack this new year with a vengeance. 

Believe me: You have the discipline inside of yourself to make big plans, stay focused on your goals, and achieve great things in this new year ahead. You may need to pull that toughness out of yourself, but you can do it!

Get others involved too. Maybe a good friend that can hold you accountable to your goals, or a leadership coach. Someone who knows you, cares enough, and has permission to push you onward.

If you’re the new leader coming into an organization, how do you keep from messing with the sacred cows? @craigtowens and I discussed this on a recent episode of our leadership podcast.

(In case you’re wondering, no, this is not my class reunion picture—sheesh!)

Class reunions can be terrifying. They can also be tremendous. Like seeing people for the first time in a long time, recalling the good times in school, and catching up on their careers, hobbies and family news. 

The terrifying part I can attest to. At one of the big reunion years (I’m not admitting anything on this blog about how many years it’s been since high school), I was talking to a few good folks. During our conversation a guy walks in that I didn’t recognize at all. I thought, “Maybe some teachers or staff were stopping in to say hello and give us a greeting or something.”

It turns out he was my classmate since kindergarten. Wow, how he has aged! He walks over to say “Hi” and begins with, “Remember me?”

I blushed but fortunately his name came to me just in time. Some would say I have an uncanny ability to remember people, stories, and stats. But this guy almost caught me off guard. 

We can be recognized in sales for a job well done. Maybe we’ll even receive an award for most sales in a month. In my opinion remembered has more power than recognition when it comes to sales. If prospects and vendors remember you, this means you are at the top of their mind. 

Some would argue that your brand is recognizable. This is true, but if you are remembered, you have a really good chance they will not only buy from you but refer others to you because you too because you are memorable.

Here are five benefits of being memorable in sales

Positive Differentiation—in sales you don’t want to be put in the big bucket with other sales people. 

Competitive Advantage—selling a process and pricing can be similar to others. What they can’t compete with is you, your style, your brand. 

Efficiency in the Sales Process—when they remember you (i.e. like, know, and trust you), you are invited back into the thick of things and stand a better chance to win the sale. 

Boosts—when you are remembered, it feels good to you and builds your sales mojo. The buyer also gains confidence because of a beneficial and lasting impression. 

The Experience—transactions are not memorable. The experience is a draw and will likely develop into more sales and more referrals. 

Leaders may actually be harming their teammates if they rescue them from their productive struggles. Check out this clip from a recent Craig And Greg Show episode. 

Let’s stroll down elementary school memory lane. One of my favorite times in school was recess. Yup, not science or math class, that’s for sure. 

It was good to get out of my desk and run around a bit, get some fresh air, and compete or explore outside. Jungle gyms were so challenging with the metal bars, and no cushy ground to fall on. These were exciting and dangerous all wrapped in one. 

One recess sporting event I loved was bombardment also named dodgeball. I had a good arm and was often either the captain or picked first. Side note: I didn’t mean to but a few throws caused a sting on my fellow classmates. One even got a bloody nose from my dodgeball toss, which I felt bad about. 

Other students were picked near the end or even dead last for dodgeball. Looking back I am sure this didn’t help their self-esteem and they probably felt rejected. 

One particular recess I had the harebrained idea to let the last players often picked to be the captains. It took the stress out of not being picked last on its proverbial head. It worked! Smiles broadened, chatter increased, and the least-picked dodgeball players had trajectory as a leader and a captain who got to pick their players. 

In sales, rejection is expected and experienced. It’s not fun, and it definitely does not boost one’s self-esteem. In fact, it can develop into something called “call reluctance.” 

That bad habit can become detrimental for any sales professional. 

“An objection is not a rejection, it could simply be a request for more information, a different solution or merely a timing thing for the buyer.”

When I led and served a sales organization of dozens of sales people, it became painfully apparent when rejection was affecting a sales person adversely. 

Sometimes rejection has been a part of a person’s life prior to sales so there was a hill to climb for them coming into a sales role. Rejection can rear its ugly head in many facets of life: not getting a job, getting cut from a team, being terminated from a job, and broken relationships. 

Here are helpful ways to overcome rejection and onto a sales trajectory that you are capable of:

Remember that rejection is better than being avoided by a prospect. 

Move past mean or disrespectful prospects. 

Rejection is really an objection. What can you learn from it?

Build up confidence in your product or service prior to making a sales call. 

Find a safe person to do a call challenge with, be accountable     to, and celebrate when you have success. 

When prospecting and you finally get a good sales conversation, this seems to bolster confidence to keep calling, keep trying new approaches, and keep remaining resilient. These things will help you to be the best sales person you can be. 

Success breeds success. And then your sales trajectory improves. 

Years ago, a successful salesperson recruited me to come work for their firm. He was positive, futuristic, and compelling. As the saying goes, he could sell a swimsuit to an Eskimo. Never a down day. Always a solution for small to gigantic problem. I learned a lot from him and his positive mindset. 

Some would say he was overly-optimistic. But it worked. People loved working with him, buying from him, and joining with him wherever he was working.

Dale Carnegie has a fitting quote about enthusiasm and positivity: “A salesperson without enthusiasm is merely a clerk.”

Optimism draws people, fires people up, and builds their desire to join in and make a difference. 

Pessimism pushes people away, deters people from excelling, and even discourages people from trying. It can easily produce negativism and apathy. 

I worked with a guy who was half-empty all the times, even when there were good things happening all around us. He was exhausting to others. He saw himself as the “King Julian” (a funny character from the Madagascar movie) of our firm. Only when he drank too much—which was, sadly, too often—did he show a personality that was palatable to be around for a little bit.

“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” —Henry David Thoreau

When a leader is optimistic they see the problem and the people differently. With hope they see their goodness and their full potential. A misty-optic person limits others and as a result, people with talent often leave for a better environment where they can bloom and thrive.

One of my coaches early in my sports career was a “Negative Nelly.” These types of leaders do not influence others to strive toward success and goodness. With this Negative Nelly at the helm, we never had a practice where it went well according to him. It was always something—some ticky-tack issue or a picky point of contention. As players, we always felt like he was having a bad day and taking it out on us!

Eye doctors know that 20/20 is the ideal score for eyesight. Leadership foresight is 20/20 only if we have a magical crystal ball that allows us to look ahead before we say something or make a decision. 

In business, casting vision and sharing that vision with your team, associates, and business partners is vital for success. Vision is important to people because it is like a map. It answers questions like? Where we going? How we going to get there? When we going to get there?

If a business displays a confusing vision or message, it’s very difficult for people to follow wholeheartedly. Misty-Optics never helps any organizational leader cast a clear and compelling vision, only genuinely optimistic leaders can do that.  

Until recently, the American economy was chugging along, improving, and growing. Sadly, the current administration’s ideologies and policies have really injured the economy, businesses, and families too. If you are out driving around, you will notice everywhere “help wanted” signs and advertisements asking (okay, maybe begging) people to apply for a job and get back to work. 

It wasn’t too long ago that the national unemployment rate was under 4 percent, making it tough to find workers. Now we have people at home not working and waiting for their government check to continue to subsidize their not working.

The number one job held by the wealthiest people in America is a sales job. Many believe that to be good in sales you must have these three traits:

Good conversationalist

Aggressive sales tactics

Charisma personality

I propose one of the top traits to be good in sales is (drum roll please): A willingness to help others.

Early in my speaking and writing career, I coined the pretend word: Shellping (a combination of the words “selling” and “helping”). If we ponder that made-up word, it really is quite fitting, despite that face that it can’t be found in Webster’s dictionary. Sales is helping someone with a need or a want—providing them a product or service that helps them. 

What isn’t good for sales success? 

Aggressively waiting for the phone to ring

An unwillingness to roll up your sleeves and help someone 

Hiding behind emails and voicemails

Many books have been written on servant leadership, and many keynote speakers like to talk about servant leadership. We could give a pretty accurate definition servant leadership by saying: A servant leader places the interests and needs of others ahead of their own self interest. They value others instead of trying to accrue power or take control. 

If you are a sales director, I would definitely encourage you to add a servant leadership element to your interviewing and hiring of sales professionals. 

In the Bible, Jesus shows us the ultimate example of servant leadership—He washed all of His disciples sandal-sore and dusty feet. If Jesus can do this, we as sales leaders (figuratively) can do that too. It’s an attitude of the heart. 

A number of years ago I gave a customer service training for a client. In the presentation I roll played with an attendee. I pretended to be the customer calling. As manufacturers’ reps, they get phone calls and inquiries all the time. I hinted that a customer may be calling with a specific question such as, “Do you have such-and-such metal?” or “Do you have a stronger cleaning solution for our equipment?”

My translation: “Can you help me?”  

That’s really all the caller is doing: Asking for help. Hence, this is where I coined the phrase Shellping.

Here is my sales leadership challenge for you. As you go about your sales day, put your servant leader’s hat on and help your customer or prospect. That’s what they are looking for and that’s also the purest definition of a high performing sales professional. 

Growing up a few of my school friends were quite well off. New spiffy clothes, a new car every three years, and frequent fabulous vacations. My mom and dad worked hard and were stewards of their earnings and savings, but we didn’t have these luxuries. We were NOT country club members. We didn’t have a cottage, we didn’t have new golf clubs, but my little sister and I never wanted for anything. We had all we needed, and we had love in our home. 

I remember getting into one of my buddy’s cars in high school and it smelled so amazing. He told me it was the new car smell. It was scrumptious! My dad nor I had ever bought or had a new car, so we had to buy the pine tree shape odorizer to hang inside our vehicles to get anything close to the new car smell. 

The smell of “brand new” is so fresh! 

Why does brand new smell so good? My vehicles can smell like tennis shoes, Burger King french fries, or soggy floor mats at any given time.  

Let me tie this in with your success as a sales leader.

What is your brand? Is it stale? Is it renewed? Do you need to revamp your brand? If we asked 100 people, would they be able to consistently and accurately describe your brand?

Here is a basic business definition of branding: The process of creating a distinct identity for a business in the mind of your target audience and customers. 

There are four governing stages of branding 

Identification—awareness

Meaning—vital differentiating

Feedback—reactions 

Affinity—active loyalty

When I was in charge of marketing, advertising, and branding at one of my companies, I really focused on customer experiences, and not so much on a particular logo or tag line or even what we offered. The experiences not only confirm our brand resonated but also solidified our brand by others who did business with us. 

Branding applies to your business, your sales force, and also to your leadership. Here are a few things I have noticed what happens when branding misses the mark:

Hypocrisy—when what you say and what they feel doesn’t match. 

Failed connection—the audience scratches their head.

You are a jack of all trades—but a master of none.

As a little boy, my parents and my grandparents would take me and my little sister downtown to shop, see the big city, and look at the amazingly tall buildings. The hustle and bustle in the city was exciting (except for the smell of bus exhaust!).

I remember when a department store would announce a special deal, marked down prices, a new feature, or some other marketing announcement to the customers in their department store at that time. 

It would sound something like this: “Good afternoon shoppers. May I have your attention? Feel free to make your way to aisle 13 where we are offering samples of XYZ, and you can also purchase XYZ at a special holiday price today only.” 

Paying attention to others is quite simply a very unselfish activity. Paying attention in business allows you to be more prepared for a business meeting or a customer’s needs. One quote I remember from a teacher in school was, “If you snooze you lose.” How true that is in life outside of school too. 

Being distracted is so easy. At our fingertips is literally “The World” in our handheld smart phones. My parents bought the entire set of The World Encyclopedia for years. My sister and I would read through these books for trivia, interesting stories, or facts. It took us a long time to page through everything, but now we get impatient if our search engines move too slowly! 

One thing I have noticed is that distractions have become an obstacle to productivity. Here are reasons we are easily distracted:

Our brain is wired for continuous distraction, so nearly half of the time we are distracted. 

Mind wandering is so easy and really nothing to keep us on track without willpower. 

Chaos of information is at our fingertips and inundates our psyche. 

Spending more time on doing things vs. energy spent on being present, means we need to be intentional about flipping the script. 

Pings, tweets, rings, and notifications cause us to rabbit trail away from where our focus should be. 

The busier you get, the more distractions and the tug-of-war on your brain will increase. High performers in sales and leadership have developed a level of discipline to stay the course, finish the job, complete the task. Here are a few attributes that enable these High Performers to remain focused:

Strategic Thinking

Drive & Direction

Self Discipline

Problem Solving 

Mountain Dew tastes good to me, but it doesn’t help me stay focused. It may give me caffeination, but it doesn’t help me achieve and remain focused. So now what?

Here’s my leadership challenge for you. These are a few of the things I have tried and I humbly challenge you to try them as well to have a more productive and purpose-filled life:

Get to bed early

Get up early

Eat healthy 

Exercise my mind and body

Maintain a disciplined quiet time (devotions and worship)

This is part 1 in my Succession Planning Dilemma Series 

As a kid growing up I looked forward to the Olympics every four years. The amount of training and preparation that went into an athlete’s performance in track and field or downhill slalom was impressive. Add in the humanitarian stories behind the scenes, and I was hooked. The dedication and discipline of these athletes from around the world inspired me. 

My brother-in-law was always up for the challenge of something. He’s a tough guy—what he puts his mind to he does. For a half-marathon there are different schools of thought on training. There are different training methods and schedules one can follow. The first time my brother-in-law attempted a half-marathon, he assumed it was just like running around the block. I recall his sore legs, stiff back, headache, and dehydration. He learned the hard way that you can’t just “muscle” your way through that many miles without proper preparation and training.

The same goes for running a business and for selling a business. It takes time, preparation, planning, and dedication to both running it and getting it ready to sell. Of course, we would all love to be a success with just a snap of the fingers. 

Hindsight may be 20/20, but planning can sure make things run more smoothly. Here are a few planning errors I have experienced myself:

Strategy and tactics. I often I got excited and went into the details of a plan or a goal to achieve something I desired. I was motivated to get stuff done, and I learned the tactics needed to get the results I wanted. I didn’t want to say I did something—although it does feel good to check things off the list—but I wanted to be successful at doing something. That takes a good upfront strategy. 

The devil’s in the details. People frequently abandon planning when they get to far in the weeds. We need to stay focused on the big picture and the tiny details. 

Not the “how.” Focus on the why and what—why it’s time to sell and what is the desired outcome. Outcome is more important than activity. The how will take care of itself in due time. 

Don’t be a slave to the plan. It’s more about what you do with the plan than the planning. After all, it’s silly to make a plan but never act on it.

I had the dubious honor of serving as a key partner with a large insurance broker. We would hold partnership meetings monthly. Often they entailed important items, key decisions, and forecasting the future. On occasion, a squirrel (aka an ADHD meeting-attendee) would show up in the meeting and cause all sort of disruption and distractions. 

Here is an example: One partner (I’ll call him Patrick) would lob an idea about marketing, staffing, or something in the community. It wasn’t on the agenda and it would change the focus and direction of the meeting for a time. This became very frustrating to the rest of us. He struggled to stay with the agreed upon agenda. It was often a whimsical idea and ended up being a waste of time.

For a successful transition of ownership and leadership, one must prepare early enough so as not to look haphazard and hurried. 

“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” —Bobby Unser

Here’s my succession planning challenge for you. Whether you are thinking of working 3 years, 8 years, or 15 years, it would behoove you as a business owner to begin asking questions of other business owners, other business professionals ,and others who have successfully completed the M&A process. Remember that time quickly flies by, situations change, and the best time to start planning was yesterday. 

The next best time is today. 

Sales isn’t for the faint of heart. 

It takes guts, focus, determination, bounce back, being quick on your feet, and cultivating listening skills just for starters. Many successful sales organizations recruit former athletes for sales positions. Obviously sales is competitive and the correlation of sports and sales is closely connected. Here is a short list of high performance sales habits that are common to peak performance athletes:

They love the game and the thrill that comes with it

They know how to work hard and wait for the payoff

They accept coaching and feedback

They love to compete and to hunt

They are self motivated and goal oriented.

They have developed the ability to overcome failure

They have strong communication and interpersonal skills

Many sales managers are coaches when they give the high performers a “play book,” a goal, and then let them achieve greatness. Some managers don’t allow their sales team to be great. They make the mistake of attempting to manage and motivate their sales force too much. Here are things I have found that deter a high performer in sales:

Micromanage—looking over their shoulder

Forms Forms Forms—drowning their sales team with paperwork

Killing their sales team with endless and needless meetings

Robots—trying to make all sales professionals identical or sell like the manager does

Pushy—setting unrealistic goals

Out to lunch—they don’t understand their sales reps motivations and strengths

Blame game—a manager won’t accept responsibility for bad numbers, or bad products, or bad staff support

In building my business in sales leadership, I found that preparation and practice were keys for me. I would prepare ahead of time by: Researching, Remaining healthy, and Relaxing before my sales presentation. 

And I would practice either in front of the mirror or behind the steering wheel while driving to my next appointment. I would even add in humor (by listening to XM Radio comedians) to make me smile going into the meeting. 

One key for me was to bring enthusiasm and share my positivity and passion toward helping them. It was infectious and definitely an influence on the sales meeting and of course to the buyer. 

There is a common quote about stories, and it goes something like this. There are three sides to every story: his side, her side, and what really happened. 

If you enjoy learning or to getting to know another person, a powerful question to ask others is, “What’s your story?” 

Everyone has a story. Some are hope-filled, some have experienced trials, some have quit, and some overcome the obstacle in front of them and kept going. 

Some of you may remember Paul Harvey as the Hall of Fame American Radio Broadcaster. Maybe you even remember hearing his soothing voice and uplifting reporting and storytelling. 

He had a knack of introducing a person with a story. There would be a commercial break, and you just had to hold tight and wait for Paul Harvey to resume the story. 

He made this phrase very popular: “And now for the rest of the story.” Often the listeners would get goosebumps or maybe even need a tissue. Paul had a way of activating or encouraging his audience with an inspiring story. 

Paul Harvey knew something we all should take note of: Good stories pack a powerful punch. 

In sales, stories really help explain the benefits of a product or service. In parenting, stories help a child understand the rules or learn valuable lessons. 

In life everyone is a story and has a story. You would think that with mainstream media and social media we would hear more of these positive stories, but, sadly, they seem to want to alarm and scare listeners. 

Paul Harvey would be a breath of fresh air today. 

Stories lead to a point. Stats are good. Facts are good. But stories bring it all together.

Stories make it memorable. Stories conjure up feelings and help the listener remember the point. 

Stories make it meaningful. They give the listener a greater context and understanding. 

Stories create and reveal emotions. They tap into a deeper part of us that make us human. 

Stories build connection. Stories bonds us together. We have a similar experience or emotion. 

Here’s my leadership challenge for you: Finish Well. 

My grandpa liked to hunt. Mostly to enjoy deer camp is my guess. He loved to bird hunt too, and  it seemed he always had his binoculars handy. He would look through them and point something out, hand me the binoculars, and then I would have to change the width of the binocular and change the focus. I really wasn’t very good at focusing binoculars. In fact sometimes I had to “fib” that I saw what he was pointing out. The binoculars just weren’t easy for me to focus at the age of seven. 

Sales can be like that too: Not easy to focus or to stay focused. 

I recall early in my career that if someone called or called back I would chase that prospect down many roads to find out that they were only looking to price check or keep their current salesperson honest. I learned after a few of these calls that it wasn’t in my best interest to chase these down. It seemed to take me away from my goals, steal my time, and distract me from real opportunities. 

Here are some common distractions—

(1) Mental clutter. This is similar to clutter in your home, your room or your garage. You can’t find what you need. You know its in there but can’t find it. In addition, mental clutter can preoccupy or confuse you from the free flow of ideas, feelings and the optimum you. 

(2) Negativity and poison. Build a strong, impenetrable boundary to keep miserable people from gaining access to your heart and mind, otherwise they will drain your energy and patience. 

(3) Grudges. Holding on to the past won’t get you to the future you desire and deserve. Life is short so don’t carry extra “baggage.” Holding a grudge has a direct correlation to your peace and joy. 

(4) Worry. This is the most common distraction that blurs your focus. It is a false alarm when there isn’t a danger present for miles. Worry tangles the truth with the false. 

When building my sales career, I noticed I went to do things that were easy and fun. What I learned was that the heavy lifting actually moved me closer to my goals and the lifestyle I dreamed of for me and my family. I needed to be more disciplined and say “no” to things that distracted my focus from being the best salesperson I could be. 

Here are a few tactics that helped me focus more to be a high performance sales professional:

Jump right in—don’t delay or procrastinate. The harder the project or task then get it done early so you can give yourself margin for the  creative or the opportunities yet to be seen. 

Be and remain healthy. Get sleep, eat well, exercise, meditate (on the Bible and other positive resources), listen to music that helps your relax and focus, get outside in the fresh air and sun. 

Create a list of importance and timelines. Seems a bit like a taskmaster mindset, but this will help with a sense of accomplishment. 

Shut it off—eliminate distractions by finding a place you can think and activate. Turn off your phone. Make a contest out of getting things done in a window of time. 

In the medical field, a professional will refer a patient for an X-ray or to another professional to review or work in their area of expertise. When traveling, I will often ask a local what places they might refer me to. In college, an instructor will share during lecture to “refer to page 123” as they continue to teach. 

Having enjoyed a blessed and lucrative sales career, I learned much about referrals and how important they are to becoming successful in sales. Whether you sell a tangible product or offer an intangible service, referrals are the fuel to our sales careers. 

Here are shocking stats on referrals:

80% of customers trust a known referral 

being referred makes someone 10x more likely to buy 

for the sales professional there is zero upfront investment yet they have a warm lead

A billboard in some marketing regions cost upwards of $5,000 a month to try to get a message to a distracted driver (who is probably eating Taco Bell while holding their smart phone and driving 10mph over the posted speed limit!). 

A referral may cost you time to establish a relationship of trust, but it doesn’t cost you $5,000!!

Having been the fortunate recipient of a referral, it feels so rewarding that someone thought highly enough of me to pass my name along to another possible client. 

What I learned about referrals that you may or may not realize:

Low cost

More trust

Fewer pricing objections

Faster processing 

Easier to close

Longer retention of a new client

Bigger sales

Reach advisor status

More referrals

More sales

More fun

Here’s my sales leadership challenge for you—I dare you to ask for a referral. Without referrals your sales success will rely upon meeting enough people directly and trying to win them over. Referrals do a lot of the winning others over because of who and why another person referred you.